YMCA’s Turkey Trot Sets Fundraising Record

More than2,300 runners, walkers, volunteers and spectators – some dressed in Thanksgiving-themed costumes – rose early Thanksgiving morning to attend the Burbank Community YMCA’s fourth annual Thanksgiving Day TurkeyTrot, on Nov. 28, firmly establishing the annual fundraising event as a Burbank holiday tradition.

The early morning 5K and 10K– which traced a double-loop course through downtown Burbank – helped raise over $60,000 for the Burbank Y’s membership assistance program, which makes its facilities and programs available to the children and families in the community regardless of ability to pay. There was also a 1K Kid’s Fun Run (ages seven and under).

This year’s event included a pre-race expo and warm-up led by a Burbank Y instructor; cash prizes for top runners; medals by age categories and prizes for kids in the 1K Fun Run. Kicking off the events were Grand Marshal and Burbank Y member Gabriel Cordell, a paraplegic who made history this past summer. Gabriel traveled a staggering 3,100 miles, to become the first person to roll a standard wheelchair across the U.S., from California to New York.